


when rain billows downward

by alexiswrites



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, F/M, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes Needs a Hug, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Salty Reader, Stephen Strange is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, more tags after i figure out who else is in my story who needs a hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-02-28 13:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18757108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexiswrites/pseuds/alexiswrites
Summary: When the Rogue Avengers flee, they leave behind a broken Tony Stark. One Year Later, when the Rogue Avengers are pardoned and they return to the US they find a new team, they find new people and they find a new Tony Stark. (Not Team Cap Friendly)hiatus





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Author's note: Hey guys! So I took a short break from writing, but I'm back now. Anyhows, how you all? I'm much better now. I've spent my afternoon writing this. I know some people are totally Team Cap and that is so understandable, I personally have always agreed with Tony in Civil War. He was just trying to help! I really don't think that any of this was Bucky's fault, obviously. He's a precious, precious person who has been treated absolutely horribly by Hydra and I hate that. He is not the bad guy in this story. Maybe he'll even make an entry ;) ;) *wink wink*. But until then, I hope you enjoy. I love you guys and the support you gave me on my last story was awesome! If we could keep that up in this one, I would be very happy. Enjoy, loves. (Bit much?)
> 
> But before that, let's explain.
> 
> Steve and Bucky break the others out of the RAFT prison and they are on the run.
> 
> The UN wants to form a new Avengers team and they will.
> 
> This like the Tony Stark defense squad thing.
> 
> I hope you enjoy,
> 
> Love,
> 
> Estetico

* * *

As the rain billowed  _downward_ , sliding against the windows of the Compound, Tony sat there alone, his hands wrung together loosely and his hair in disarray. Carding his fingers through it gently, he sighed. He remembered the times, the memories of Siberia. He remembered how the shield had come crashing down over and over again, the shock of it all still vibrating through his body.

He remembered the time when he'd gotten home, to find a letter, with a small package sitting next to it. It was an insult. It was a painful memory which he wanted to forget, more than anything. There were many sacrifices he had made when he was younger, for the team that he'd wanted them to be.

They weren't cut out for it.

And just as his father used to say, when a man doesn't truly want something, he doesn't put his best effort into it, and in a way, for the first time, Tony had agreed with him. He had know, deep inside, subconsciously, that no matter how much he would love and try for the old team, it wouldn't have been his best work. The Tower, that was his greatest creation, or so he had thought. Then the Compound, he had thought that it was his newest and most successful creation.

But now that they were gone, their presence tainted everything. Every piece of furniture, ever surface and every appliance.

They were everywhere, yet they were nowhere.

And Tony Stark new that they wouldn't be back, not now, not in the near future, perhaps, and maybe it was for the best, not ever again.

Why did he need them?

After the betrayal that was Siberia, Tony had come back to the world, he had needed an anchor, a rock, something to reach out to his soul and to ground him.

Even he knew, that no matter how much time he spent in the lab, this wouldn't be fixed. He'd need someone. He'd need something to look forward to, because to him, life was meaningless. And though he'd never wanted to admit it, the Avengers were just as much a part of him as Iron Man was.

When Peter Parker had decided to step into his life, Tony hadn't pushed him away.

Because he thought that he had finally found that one person, other Pepper, Rhodey and Happy, to ground him. Peter Parker was he rock and he was the anchor.

Their relationship would've been best described as a father/son fiasco. They cared for each other, and some would say that they even loved each other.

So Tony wasn't at a complete loss because of the 'Civil War', he was at peace. He was in nirvana.

.

.

.

The rain continued thundering down, in thick sheets, as the phone went off, ringing incessantly.

"Hello? This is the life-model decoy of Tony Stark, please leave a message, if urgent, leave it urgently."

"Mister Stark, my name is Samantha Simmonds and I am one of the representatives of the UN and part of one of the highest legal teams of the US government. I need to speak to you urgently, this is regarding Rogers and his clan. Your presence is required in the UN council and Accords council meeting," a feminine voice spoke impatiently.

"Why? I've done my job. I brought in most of them, and then they ran off, what do I have to do with this?" he question, warily.

"Mister Stark, we know you are in a tight position right now but I must request that you arrive tomorrow in Vienna," she insisted.

"Look, lady, I don't care anymore. I'm done. Do you get that? Iron Man, is an urgent, must need only thing nowadays. You either tell me what this is about, or I'm ending this call," he spoke sharply.

The woman sighed as if she had been expecting this.

"The Rogues, they are going to be pardoned, sir, and we need your presence here," she started, as Tony numbed, "I understand you are not in the best position right now but please, we need your cooperation. One meeting, sir, that's all the council wants, this process will take months to start, since this whole unfortunate ordeal has just finished, the media is all over this, we need to release a statement, and there is so much that needs to be done, before we can tend to others. The Rogues will be pardoned, whether they'll be welcomed back by the public, that is not our job. We merely sort through media and legal formalities. The Rogues, if they are pardoned, they won't be able to be back on US soil for at least a year. We need a new team that can save the world from imminent threat. Please, Mister Stark, one meeting and then you can decide what to do."

He sighed, contemplating.

"Why do need me there? And will  _they_ be there?" he asked, carefully.

"You have played a major role in this, and your opinion is very valuable for them and for the UN. And no, they won't be in Vienna. They are not allowed in Vienna after the last incident, there is no way that they can be let back on their soil."

"Understood," he said, "I-I'll be there, this was a secure line, yes?"

"Yes, of course, sir. Thank you so much for your cooperation, the UN and the rest world will definitely appreciate it."

He grunted in reply before ending the call.

He had a lot of thinking to do.

.

.

.

It turned out that it was raining in Vienna too. What was it with this world, it was raining everywhere? Did it want to look like a sad, romance story where they all cry whilst it rains?

It turned out that Vienna was not a total waste of time. The UN and the Accords council did talk about the damages that needed repairs and steered clear of the Rogues until the very end.

The President of Germany spoke first.

"In previous meetings, Mister Stark, you were not present, we have discussed about the so called Rogue Avengers. We have also discussed about their pardons and have come to conclusion of claiming them as criminals, terrorists and revoking their US citizenships, till they turn themselves in to either the New Avengers Team, which we hope will be formed soon, but this time with all of them signing the Accords or the authorities, is that reasonable?"

"That is more than generous Mister President, thank you," Tony said, cringing at the respective undertone in his voice.

"I have been doing some research," he started, "and I have found multiple candidates for the New Avengers Team. They are obviously only suggestions, but they are very diligent, intelligent and very cooperative."

"Please continue Mister Stark. We would like to hear these potential candidates," President Ellis encouraged him.

"Of course Mister President, but before that, I would like to address a bigger issue, which has come to my attention," all eyes were on him now, waiting expectantly, "Secretary Ross has no control over the Accords, does he? From what I have gathered, he does not. Though, the Civil War started partly because of him. He introduced us to the Accords in such a way, that if a person didn't read them, they would immediately respond the way that Steve Rogers did. We only have the public listening because we have patiently explained to them what the Accords are about. They are about consequences, accountability and the public themselves. Ross had given us 36 hours to find them, and if we were to refuse or fail, he would send the military. General Ross has power over the military not the Avengers, and he has been abusing this power. The RAFT, though has been authorised, we don't know what happens in there. Prisoner, are still humans, who have human rights and they are not treated fairly in that prison. Please look into that."

He looked around to see Ellis, his face a slight expression of anger as others scrawled notes.

"I will certainly look into that, thank you for bringing that to my attention. Now, candidates?"

"Of course, sir. There are multiple people, with military background or some sort of enhancement, Spider-Man for example or perhaps Captain Danvers also referred to as Captain Marvel. Obviously Colonel Rhodes, once he settles with his leg braces. Doctor Stephen Strange and Wong. Bruce Banner or Thor. There are so many trustable, willing and amazing people out there, who would want to risk their live for the public. I can set something up. Perhaps, a new team would be good, we can all start on a new slate. Yes?"

"Please, send a list addressed to the UN and we will look further into it, thank you. SHIELD will continue monitoring everything. Director Fury, is back and in running business, SHIELD will thoroughly monitor this, as they did the first time and we will also have a say in this. Thank you for your time everyone. Meeting adjourned," Ellis spoke, before guiding Tony out.

He turned to the President.

"Thank you Mister President. I finally got to address some issues that have been pending far too long, sir," he said softly.

"Anytime Tony, you only want what's best for America. Nobody blames you for the Ultron thing anymore. We know it was Miss Maximoff's doing, they all want to apologize, but it's difficult. You of all people understand, I know. You're a good man Tony Stark, people should give you more credit for it," he said before sliding into his car.

Huh. How about that?

His phone rand softly and he sighed, apologizing to the guy holding the umbrella above his head.

"Hello, this is Tony Stark speaking," he greeted.

"Hey Tony," he realized who it was, "It's Steve."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Hello people of the Internet! I'm back, with a new chapter. What do you think? I obviously won't be able to do this type of thing everyday, since I still have school, but I'll try my very best on the weekend. Your love and support on this story is great! I only hope it will flourish like the other one did. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out my other story called 'Wait, what? You know the Avengers?' I had a blast doing it. Let's just talk about the 25K views on that! I just don't think that there are enough of these plots of the field trip trope or this type of pre-civil war trope around on the Internet. I just want to clear this up, INFINITY WAR WILL NOT BE HAPPENING IN THIS STORY! Well, not yet at least. I don't like Infinity War that much and I just want to say that if I would've included Infinity War, the Rogues wouldn't have come up in the UN yet. Thanos would have been the main one and just wanted to explain that he will not be here. They say that we make our own demons (Iron Man 3 anyone?), and this story was solely based off of that. That Steve and the clan will make their own demons. That's all. I'mma shut up now. Enjoy peeps.

6 months later

Scott Lang sat on the couch, his head in his hands. He missed his daughter more than ever.

He was grateful for T'Challa had done for them, but his patience was slowly but surely running short. He just wanted to go home and hug his daughter, but he knew that Maggie wouldn't let him and he would be in jail as soon as he was spotted.

Being confined to the palace walls was not something Scott enjoyed. Shuri, the King's younger sister, who was playful, smart and when the time needed serious. She enjoyed his company, or so he thought, she hadn't been around for a while.

She had been convincing, telling him that he could go home if he turned the others in, he wouldn't be in a much trouble. Cassie and Hope. He missed his girlfriend, was she his ex now? He didn't understand. He had thought that Steve was right at the beginning. But, now, he was having second thoughts after having a lawyer sit down and explain to him exactly what they were. Hope had ended their romantic relationship, or had claimed to, months ago, at a press conference in which a nosy reporter questioned their status. She had claimed that she was done with him when he left to fight for a man he had never met before.

Maybe it was time to hand them in. The little witch was already giving him nightmares and headaches, acting so spoilt, rotten and rude. Maybe it was his parent side coming out, but he knew that nobody would put up with this stuff, he didn't quite get why Clint and Steve did.

Bucky was back in cryo as soon as he landed and decided that he didn't want to hurt anyone else, honestly, Scott liked Bucky and knew for a fact that he and Tony were in contact in those two hours before he went into cryo. So Steve would spend his days cooped up in the room that held his best friend.

Maybe it was time, he thought to himself as he leaned back, bringing his coffee mug to his lips. Maybe it was.

.

.

.

He saw Shuri the next day, claiming that what he had to say was important and that she would want to know, he had requested to one of the Dora Milaje, Okoye she said her name was, before thanking her profusely.

"Hello Scott," Shuri called as she entered the room, her accent thick and heavy.

"Shuri," he nodded at her, "thank you for meeting with me."

"It's not a problem, you're much more bearable than Barton, Maximoff or Rogers. I talk to Wilson sometimes. He isn't bad, he just followed his friend."

"Thank you. I was wondering if I could still follow through with what we discussed a few months ago. I want see my daughter, Shuri. I want apologize to Hope, I just want to go home. I'm done with this team. I want go home and then turn up at Stark's doorstep, begging forgiveness. Both him and Rhodes. They don't deserve all of this, princess."

"They do not. I'm glad you've come to your senses Scott, I would have hated seeing you being dragged down with rest of them. Clint, I believe he has children. Not one but three and a current wife, he left all that behind to become a fugitive. Did you know that, Scott?"

He shook his head.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first thing that they didn't tell me. I was just wondering if we could? If not, I'll get the lawyer who helps me read the Accords to help -"

"Of course I want to help! Please let me. You're a good man. You stumbled bit along the way, but a good man nonetheless," she said warmly before straightening.

"In that case, we are going to have to talk to my brother and then go straight to the UN," she informed him.

Shuri could see pain in his eyes, as if it hurt him to do this, but desperation makes a man do many things, some good, some not.

"I know you can do this Scott. You are a strong man with good morals and sometimes, things aren't fair and just because you want to go see your daughter they may have to go jail, but they put themselves in such a situation. You have to lose something in order to gain something. That is the saying, is it not? Well then in this case, it can't apply. Have they been kind and trusting to you? No. Have they provided you any support knowing that you were in pain? No. You don't need people like them in life when they aren't your friends. They may act as if they are, but they are not. They never and I hope, for your sake, they never will be," she said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks Shuri. For everything, people should give you more credit," he said softly, smiling gently.

She gave him a knowing look before walking away, through the doors that led to sitting room.

Well this was certainly something new. Baby steps, Scott, baby steps.

.

.

.

When Tony heard about Scott Lang wanting to turn himself and the rest of the Rogues for trial, he had slumped deeper into his seat. Some people may have referred to his behaviour as childish, they wouldn't have been wrong, per say, but he hadn't had a good night sleep or a homemade meal since three days ago and they made things even more complicated. He had to meet up with the Spiderling to talk about him signing the Accords, as he was an enhanced individual, minor but an enhanced nevertheless and he had to meet with Pepper regarding Stark Industries. He had board meetings which were obligatory, council meetings and press events lined up, along with more personal things, like initiating Peter to the Avengers or greeting Hope Van Dyne when she was to join the team, alongside retrieving JARVIS. Although Tony loved FRIDAY, she just wasn't his old Irish AI, who he had missed dearly. Turned out that he had made a backup before the Ultron/Vision fiasco and had promptly forgotten about it due the event that came in the near future. Maybe the little witch had messed with his mind because Tony knew that he would never have forgotten something so important.

He shrugged to himself. They weren't his problem anymore, they could be detained in the RAFT for all he cared. All the people that he loved, that he trusted, they were right here with him. Carol Danvers was a great option to lead the Avengers, she had both the willingness and experience, Rhodey would be the second in command, Peter would be support and be the most 'vigilante' type of them all which would mean that he would lead stealth and surveillance missions. For a 17-year-old, he was quite responsible and a quick thinker on the field. Huh. Hope was always great at stealth missions too and if Spider-Man and the Wasp teamed up on the field, they would be formidable. Wong and Strange would be around too, Wong less, but Strange was a full-time Avenger and would be quite useful if they were in battle.

Overall, he was content. Bruce and Thor had shown up with a fleet of homeless Asgardians with them, and the UN was shocked, yet arranged them refuge. As the Tower was mainly used for part-time stays and mostly for Stark Industry purposes, they were offered a temporary home there, until they could find their own accommodations. It mustn't have been easy to settle in with people of such difference, but they all were keeping an open mind and working through their difficult times as a unit. As a team. Thor was clearly a great leader.

Though the question remained, Peter's Aunt May had cancer. He had been informed of this before and the woman had begged him to keep it a secret till she was sure that she had to go and that her time was up. She had made him promise that he would have a home, he would be loved and he would have everything she was incapable to do for him. It was terminal cancer. They had found out a few days ago and Tony had insisted on paying the medical bills and for chemotherapy. The chances were low and May was supposed to tell Peter today, which made everything much more complicated. She only had about two months left, the doctors had said. They successfully removed one tumour, but another had been growing and as they were removing the second one, another had come up. The doctors had said that she had two months at the most, if she was lucky, it would put her out of her screaming agony in about half the time. How Peter hadn't figured out where his Aunt had been going, and why she hadn't been coming back for so long had astounded him. So he was prepared to come to home from the meeting he was sitting in, to emotionally wrestle with an either silent, sobbing or angry teenager.

This really wasn't his cup of tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: May has cancer! Poor Petey. I feel horrible for doing this but the whole rock and anchor thing will come into play more if Tones and Petey boy live together. I didn't want May to seem like horrible person by kicking Peter out after finding out that he was Spidey, there are many tropes like that and I just felt like this would have been the sweetest way. Peter would be able to say goodbye instead of May being brutally murdered or in a car accident by a drunk driver. I feel like this would've been the best way to go about it. She would get be Ben forever now. I'm happy with that. I really am, no regrets. Just saying, she may pass away in the near future, so I need you to know that. There will be a trigger warning for that. Love you guys. Till next time,
> 
> Estetico


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Hey guys! Nick Furyyyyy! Finally. I love his character and I hate how he had to pretend to die or how SHIELD was dumped on the Internet. I will forever loathe Nat for that, but I wont make things too hard for her. And since I hate the SHIELD Internet dump, it never happened. At least not in this story. It would be better for SHIELD, as the people who used to work there wouldn't be killed because their address was on the Internet to see. More humanity, you know? Anyways on to the chapter!

Nick Fury watched the skyline of New York City, sipping his tea contently. He had been busy lately, not having enough time for anything but the rise of SHEILD. Over the span of being the Director, Nick had seen many things. He had known when someone had potential and he had known what to do in difficult circumstances. He had very rarely found himself in a situation where he didn't know what to do or didn't know how to respond.

So when Tony Stark had come to him, asking him if he would have wanted to monitor the Avengers team, under the UN of course, he couldn't have helped but asked why. He had asked why Tony had wanted him to do that job instead of someone directly from the government. Tony had shrugged, saying that, there were very few people that he trusted nowadays, and his trust only reached out to those that were there for him even before the Civil War. Nick Fury hadn't admitted it, but he was glad to know that someone trusted him.

After all, spies weren't people to be trusted and Nick Fury was  _the_ spy.

When Scott Lang had turned himself in and was willing to turn the Rogues in, he was surprised, but as a father to a beautiful daughter and husband to his supportive wife, as a family man, he saw where the man was coming from.

He had reminisced the old SHIELD, but had come to a quick realization. The way that SHIELD was working was correct. They did need accountability, that was what the intelligence agency had stood for, and though he missed the way they worked, it was much better now.

Maria Hill still worked as his assistant, Coulson was still the second in command and their organisation was flourishing. So what did he have to complain about?

At least, Nick thought that he was able to see potential, clearly not. Not after the actions of Clint Barton, not after what Natasha did, not after Steve thought that it was alright to parade around the world to kill people because of a personal friend.

When he had seen Natasha's report, Iron Man; Yes, Tony Stark; Not recommended, he should've realized that Tony was used. That he was hurt and that he didn't cope with things well. Because people he trusted had hurt him before and that's what they had done once again.

.

.

.

When Nick Fury had gotten a call from the UN, claiming that he was needed for a gathering, he had albeit reluctantly, agreed. He was a curious man, and people said that curiosity would get you killed, Nick would disagree. Curiosity, if nurtured a person into the correct field, a field similar to his own, would direct it and unless the person was being reckless, they wouldn't be killed.

So he had agreed and had turned up with Tony trailing behind him.

"Good morning Mister Stark, Director Fury, thank you for joining us," President Ellis smiled warmly, greeting them with a nod each.

"Thank you Mister President, Sir, it's a pleasure to meet you again. Though formalities aside, I believe that we have a rather pressing matter to discuss and I mean no offense when I say this whatsoever, but I have board meetings that I have to attend and it would be absolutely amazing if I could stop by for a quick lunch before that, I've been on a banana for the 14 hours in this day and would highly appreciate it," Stark had stated, eyebrow raised.

"Of course! I understand Mister Stark, your presence his highly required but it is a privilege we have been given. Let us proceed," Ellis said, before ushering them to their seats as they were the last ones to arrive.

"Good morning everyone. Thank you for attending this rather prompt and unplanned meeting, we are grateful to have your presence. We have been discussing about the Rogue Avengers in the past few sessions and the UN has communicated and we have finally gotten closer to a decision," Clements, the representative from Britain explained, "governments will be pressing charges against them. Germany will be pressing charges for damage to public and private property, alongside a few minor things, Russia will be pressing charges for entry without permission, Romania will be pressing charges against them for inconsiderate behaviour, damage and destruction of state owned and private property, the injured and dead alongside many others. Nigeria will be pressing charges for many things some of which are destruction of public and private property alongside a few more, Wakanda will be doing the same for the soldiers who were hurt in the Lagos incident. I hope that everyone is on board with this? We would also like to have the Rogues' statement and when they come to trial, and they most definitely will, their side and story. Lawyers will be organised for them. Even if they are fugitives, they deserve to be treated fairly and equally, as if they were never the Avengers are were always criminals. Speaking of that, Mister Scott Lang knows of their whereabouts and is willing to turn himself in along with the Rogues. T'Challa, I am going to pass the stage to you."

"Thank you Mister Clements. I have been housing the Rogues for the past seven months. My original invitation was extended only to Mister Barnes, as he is need of help and is currently in cryogenic stasis, through his own will. Unfortunately, and inconveniently for Wakanda, Steve Rogers took that in the wrong way and thought I was referring to the lot of them. I however was not. I could not have kicked them out as that would've been revealed to the public that Wakanda had been housing criminals and my people would not be happy. My royal advisors would have wreaked havoc and I cannot house them if the price is Wakanda. Mister Barnes will not however, be moved as he is in cryogenic stasis. He is secure for both his own safety and the public's safety. Please understand that I was under an extremely tight situation and have had no idea on how to address this to the UN."

Silence engulfed the room and Nick Fury watched, his face even and his eyes calculating the possible outcome.

"I vouch for T'Challa. He was right on his part and did what is best for his country," Stark started from his seat, "and I know as a fact that if all of us in this room had been put under the circumstances that he was, along with the unfortunate death of his father, King T'Chaka and such responsibilities being thrown at in such a young age, I would've done the same. I may not be a part of the UN legally, but I have been attending the meetings and I see that opinion is regarded and valued, which I am grateful for, but in this case, I think we should step into the shoes of King T'Challa and subsequently take forthcoming decisions."

Silence in the room as everyone considered Tony's words.

"Very well, I too vouch for the King," Germany relented.

"As does Nigeria."

"We understand your situation, King, we too vouch for him," Sokovia said.

Most of the countries followed suit, except Russia and Britain. They were usually the tough ones anyway, but they would always relent when majority was against them.

"As does Russia," the man spoke, distaste in his voice.

"Britain agrees," the woman representative said with a sigh.

So the meeting carried onwards and Nick Fury was surprised at the amount of power Tony had in the UN, how much trust he had attained over the past few months.

Maybe Banner was right. The old Avengers weren't a team, they were chemical compound, waiting to combust.

The old Avengers weren't what the world needed, the new Avengers, were.

.

.

.

Nick Fury was said to be a man of few words. Well, whoever said that wasn't wrong. He didn't speak unless necessary. But maybe that was just his own opinion.

When Scott Lang reached out to the UN and they put SHIELD in charge of the Rogues, Nicky realized that he'd have to meet them again. Word had gotten out that Natasha had gotten into Wakanda as well and he realized that he would have to see the despicable woman once again.

Nicholas sighed. Maybe it was time retire.

But he couldn't. Not now, when there were more important things in the horizon, probably not even in the near future. He'd have to apologize to his wife and to his daughter. Nicholas Fury couldn't retire, not yet at least, this world had a lot more that it needed to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: How was it? Tell me in the comments!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey guys! New chapter! This one has the feels! I was honestly crying about it and I hated it! You'll understand why. Sorry if it isn't accurate, I'm not in the medical field, I don't plan to be and the Internet is really crappy right now. The struggles of life. But let's not let that deter the sadness of this chapter. On with it!

When Tony Stark had received a call from Steve, the rain had been pouring down in thick sheets, thunder echoing loudly throughout the Compound.

"Hey Tony, its Steve," the man had proclaimed, in a soft voice and upon hearing silence, he continued, "I hope you got my letter. I- I thought you would've called, so we could patch things up. And no matter what people think right now, the world still needs us. We shouldn't let our personal problems get in the way of that, Tony, it's not fair to everyone else."

His voice sounded sincere, as if he actually believed everything that he had said. Tony had scoffed.

"This world doesn't need any of you," he spoke, accentuating 'need', "heck! They don't even want you. Not after everything you've done to them. I wasn't going to patch things up. I don't even want to talk to you. I know where you are. I've known since the beginning, don't you think that I would've come and visited if I wanted to patch things up?"

"I-I thought—''

"Look, I'm done. It's over, you made your decision the moment you rammed that shield into my chest," he spoke evenly, not wanting to sound weak.

"Tony I—''

"Goodbye Rogers."

The call disconnected and Tony had sunk to the ground, sad and overwhelmed. Though, that only lasted for a few moments, as Pepper and Peter waltzed into the room, buzzing with excitement.

"Tony! Tony! We got a hold on the Rogues!" Peter had said, excitedly.

"That's great kiddo. But how?" he had asked, though he already knew the answer.

"You haven't seen the news?" Pepper asked, and upon Tony's shake of his head, "Scott Lang turned himself and the other Rogues in. So, he gets out relatively scotch-free. Have you heard from Laura and the kids? She is not going to be happy when she talks to Clint again."

Tony shook his, reminding himself to call Laura and ask how she was in the Tower. He had bought it back as Peter's school was starting again and he wanted to be closer to New York. Laura, had offered to oversee the whole ordeal, wanting to thank Tony for what he had done for them in the past year. She had thanked him profusely, for providing safety to her and her children until Ross was terminated. He had done what Clint was supposed to do. He had looked after them when they couldn't run away from the cruel world. Tony smiled softly. Though his conversation with Steve had dampened his mood, upon hearing that the people who had hurt him, and the rest of the world, being brought to justice was a great thing. It showed everyone that the world had rules and it didn't matter whether you were superhero, or not, you had to follow them. It gave the public a sense of comfort, and relief knowing that people didn't get away with things that easily.

And it was on that day, that Tony had decided that he wasn't the one at fault. He had made mistakes along the way, but it wasn't his fault that they rampaged over the world. He was frankly done with their shit and wasn't having anymore of it.

Tony Stark would not be pushed around.

He had been used and trampled over. They had used his money, his generosity and his kindness. They had taken advantage of him.

They wouldn't get away with that.

Tony wouldn't let them.

.

.

.

When Scott had contacted the UN and explained himself to them, they had been understanding, yet stern. They were exactly the opposite of what he had thought of them. Sure, the Russians were slightly pushy and pessimistic, but after a small amount of persuasion, even they relented. Germany was bitter towards his actions, but they understood the feeling of satisfaction when a national hero asked for help, hell, they even considered the factor of mind-control playing a part because of Wanda.

Overall, Scott thought that it was better than before. They seemed to know that they were in Wakanda, but he didn't let that bother him. They had said that they were waiting to see if either of them felt remorse and handed themselves in. Apparently, only Scott had done that. He wasn't a selfish man whatsoever. All he wanted to do was go home and see his daughter.

And after much negotiation, the UN decided that he would be favoured over the others as he handed himself in. It hadn't seemed fair at the time, that he would be let off so easily, but after a thorough explanation from his lawyer, everything had been cleared up.

He was going to go home.

.

.

.

When FRIDAY announced that Peter was home, Tony and Pepper had rushed towards his room, knowing that he would need the support. They expected to see the kid with tears running down his face, or perhaps his room a wreck from him ripping everything apart in blind rage.

What they didn't expect was to see him sitting on his bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of him.

He seemed to be in shock. Or at least that's what the two of them had thought.

He wasn't.

He had looked up at them, his eyes glassy, and then went back to staring at the wall.

There was silence for a while as both Tony and Pepper contemplated on what to do.

"I've accepted it, you know?" he told them softly.

They didn't speak, waiting for him to continue.

"I mean, when she said that she wanted to talk, I didn't know that this was what she wanted to talk about. You know that feeling, when you want to cry, but can't? Because you have no more tears left to cry over the loss of someone you love," he whispered, his voice broken. And if that didn't break Tony's heart, he didn't know what did.

He continued.

"I've accepted the fact that it's the end of the line for her. That maybe, she can join Ben, wherever he is. I think she'd like that."

"When I visited her in the hospital, she was in so much pain. It hurt me to see her that way. The doctors told me that there is a possibility of her going into coma. If she doesn't, she'll be in that pain for 2 months. When I asked them if there was any way to stop it, they told me that they'd have to cut off the machines. That I'd have to say good bye."

Tony took a sharp breath as he watched the boy in front of him crumble slightly.

"I told them that I'd come to visit again tomorrow. I'd tell them my decision tomorrow. What do you think I should do?"

"That's your decision Peter. It's yours and May's. If you're ready to say good bye to her, then so be it. Sometimes, it's better to put someone out of their misery when it's hurting them. Just know that we'll always be there with you. Me, Tony, Rhodey, Happy, Carol, Stephen, everyone will be there for you. Everyone. We all love you and we know that this is a hard time for you. If you want to talk, we'll always be there," Pepper spoke, her voice hoarse and her eyes watery.

She pulled the boy into a long embrace, beckoning Tony to join.

"Hey, hey kid, look at me," Tony spoke, tilting Peter's chin to hold his gaze, "Pepper means what she said, we're all here for you whenever you need it. We're not going to leave you like that Peter. Okay?"

The boy nodded softly.

"What're you going to do, kid?" Tony asked.

Peter shut his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath.

"I'm going to ask them to shut down the machines. I'm going to go say good bye."

.

.

.

Peter approached room 456 with a small amount of dread weighing on his shoulders. He had called MJ and Ned yesterday, explaining his situation to them, about May. Both of them had sympathised and asked if he wanted any support. He had politely declined. He didn't want anyone here for when he did say good bye, not even Tony.

He slipped inside the room, silently and he watched for a moment as May was propped up onto the bed by the nurse.

Rosemary, that was her name. She smiled at Peter, somewhat sympathetically before quietly slipping through the door.

Peter ambled towards his aunt, smiling gently as she beamed towards him.

"How's my boy? Is Tony taking care of you?" She asked softly.

"I'm alright, I guess. Tony's been looking after me very well, May," he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

"I- I just came to talk to you about something important. W-What do you think about joining Ben?" he asked, his eyes cast low. The look of confusion followed by the gasp of realization not going unnoticed by Peter, as May's eyes welled with tears.

"Peter? I want to stay with you, honey. You don't want me anymore?" she asked softly.

"Both you and I know that that isn't true. I want you to see me grow up, May. I want you to be sitting there for my graduation from High School. I want to see you happy when I graduate from college and I get a job. I really do. There are million things that I want, May, but I can't have all of them. I can't. I want you around for the rest of my life. You're the only family I've known for my all of it. But I want to put you out of your misery. You don't deserve this. And if you d-don't m-make it th-through after all of th-this. I-I don't think that I'd be able t-to handle that, M-May."

Peter choked up, stuttering as he controlled his tears.

"I want you to know that I'll be proud of you for the rest of your life. I love you and tell Tony that if he doesn't look after you, I will come back from the dead and haunt him," she said, drawing a watery laugh from Peter.

"You think I should tell them to turn off the machines? I think you'd like to be with Ben again. I think you'd enjoy that, May," he spoke.

She nodded.

"I'll miss you, Peter," she said, truthfully, her voice filled with raw emotion.

"I'll miss you too, May and I love you. Don't ever forget that," he whispered.

He smiled at her, through his now freely pouring tears, probably for the last time, as he left the room, calling for a doctor.

"Mr Parker, what can I do for you today?" he asked, cheerily.

"Can you turn the machines off?" he asked, not looking at the man. A shadow passed over the doctor's face before he nodded in confirmation.

"I can. Is that what you'd like?"

Peter nodded.

"Would you like to be in there with her when we do it? It's completely up to you," he questioned sincerely.

Peter nodded as he walked back in, the sounds of nurses and the doctor rushing around, drowning out.

He walked back through the door, Doctor Sanders, trailing behind him.

He watched as they spoke to May, before rushing around and asking for confirmation from Peter. He simply nodded at them. Sighing, the doctor pushed a few buttons before calling out the nurses, who assisted him in what he was doing.

Peter gripped May's hand, both of them whispering their good bye's to each other.

The heart monitor beeped loudly, fastening, before it dropped down and flat lined.

May managed a small smile at him, whispering to him that she loved him, before her eyes closed and she drifted off, leaving him alone in the world.

No. He wasn't alone. He had Tony and Pepper and the team. He had people.

But he didn't have May anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: How was this one? The feels! Tell me in the reviews! :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Eeeeek! Sorry, that was weird. So, new chapter. Look at me going. I am not in any way updated with the law. I'm still in school, and law is not a subject. So I don't know much about it. Like, in depth much. So, this is where the total Team Cap gets reprimanded sort of this starts. I love Bucky. I love Sebastian Stan and his character. Bucky, in my world, is 100% innocent and doesn't deserve what the world throws at him. So, there will be plently of Not Team-Cap Friendly, but there will be a lot of Bucky Friendly. There you go, loves. Enjoy.

_Two months later_

Steve Rogers inhaled sharply as the Compound came to view. They were home.

After a quite gruelling fight, should he add.

Scott had turned them all in, and frankly, Steve shouldn't have been surprised. He had seen that a long time coming, even if he hadn't wanted to admit it. Natasha had turned up in Wakanda, a while back, claiming that she had been exiled for her actions in the media-dubbed 'Civil War' and Steve found that atrocious. She had done what she had needed to do.

She had done what she did for the greater good, yet nobody saw her sacrifices.

The UN, after much negotiation and controversy, had decided that they would be pardoned, only in the United States, though. Nigeria, Germany, Sokovia, Russia and Romania had been adamant on not wanting to fugitives step on and taint their land. Though it had been disheartening to hear that many countries were not willing to accept them anymore, Steve thought that it didn't matter. The government of the United States had decided that they would be given a second chance and that had been enough for Steve.

America had managed to get countries to drop charges after much discussion and disagreement, but had finally managed to lower it down to the minimal damage. Germany, Romania and Nigeria had dropped many charges, but had brought it down to mass destruction of private and public property, Steve and the others assumed that Tony had them covered. After all, they weren't going to be able to pay them off and Steve thought that the billionare would be over his petty grudge.

Bucky had emerged from cryostasis a month prior, and was now sitting silently, at the back of the quinjet, staring blankly at his lap. It hurt Steve to see his friend in such a state, his friend, who he had given everything up for.

When they had said that Tony would pay for the damages, (that in their minds were started because of him) Bucky, Scott, Sam and Natasha had looked upon them with either; disdain, disgust or scepticism.

Wanda had been raging, about how Tony was childish and immature and owed them for all the pain that he had thrown on them. Steve had let her, he couldn't fault her for disliking Tony, she was young and confused, thrown into a world that she couldn't yet understand, Tony could deal with a young woman whining and grouching about him.

It wouldn't have been the first time that someone hated him and definitely not the last.

Clint had been angry. Pure, hot anger directed towards the genius. He had received divorce papers and firmly believed that Tony was responsible for Laura taking such drastic measures. For a woman of her intellectual level, Steve thought that she shouldn't have done that to Clint. The poor man had already been through so much pain, that with Laura filing for a divorce and snatching all parental rights from him, he had barely managed to stay sane.

They were going home, though slightly broken and in a disarray, they were going home nonetheless and that was enough right now.

.

.

.

When the quinjet landed on the landing pad, Steve had expected Tony to be standing there, waiting to see his old friends. Not welcome them, but see them and talk to them.

That hadn't been the case.

There was a woman, dressed in a uniform which was similar to his own in many ways. Her blond hair fell below her shoulders and her posture was one of a hardened soldier. Next to her was Rhodes, he hadn't changed much, apart from the obvious fact that he had adorned braces for his legs.

Pepper Potts stood next to them, clicking away on her tablet, and speaking into her earpiece as they approached, dutifully ignoring their presence. She looked up, her red hair tumbling over her shoulders, as she levelled them with watered down glare. She wasn't happy with them, at all.

The blond woman was the first to break the silence.

"Welcome to the Avengers Compound. My name is Colonel Carol Danvers, also referred to as Captain Marvel. We should get you settled into your rooms, and then you must attend a compulsory meeting that Director Fury had requested. Formalities later, ladies and gentlemen, we don't have much time. If you will, follow Miss Potts and Colonel Rhodes, that would be marvellous," she spoke, professionalism and barely concealed disgust laced in her tone.

Rhodes cleared his throat before turning on his heel and gesturing for them to follow.

"The Avengers Compound has changed since the last time you have been here, there are new rules and regulations which you will read through. There will be a pamphlet in your quarters," he spoke, gesturing to Pepper to continue.

"Some of these are specially set for you lot," she spoke evenly, "You are under no circumstances allowed in the West Wing quarters of the Compound. That is where the Avengers reside and you, frankly do not have a purpose there. Fail to follow this rather simple rule and you will be extradited."

Steve's eyebrows furrowed even deeper.

"I don't understand. We had full access in the past, why not now? We are the Avengers, hence we should be able to access the West Wing," he tried to placate her.

"I don't understand why you do not understand such simple English. Things have changed, as Colonel Danvers has pointed out, quite abundantly might I say. There have been requests from multiple residents that you need not have access to the West Wing," Pepper said, finality in her voice.

"You are most certainly not Avengers. Consider this length of time as probation. We, meaning, a group of handpicked individuals are the Avengers. You all gave up that right the moment you decided to become fugitives," Danvers piped up from her space, as they continued down the hallway.

"What? We're not allowed in the west wing because Stark can't get over himself?" Wanda reprimanded them.

Rhodes rolled his eyes, professionalism be damned.

"Contrary to popular belief, Mr Stark has not requested this. The Vision along with Miss Van Dyne have, respect their wishes if you would like to remain here," he explained.

"You're going to kick us out because we don't mind someone's privacy?" Clint scoffed, "well isn't that mature."

"It is in fact very mature. I would also like to remind you that SHEILD is monitoring this process and the government are going to be paying a hefty fee for your residence here at the Compound for the first two months. I just want to remind you all that you should be capable to pay for the charges dropped on you by several countries along with your 'rent', if you will, for living at the Compound. It is a privilege not a right, don't abuse it," Pepper spoke.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I follow, what charges and what fee?" Steve asked, confused about the situation.

The trio chuckled, as if realizing the idiocy of the Rogues in that very moment.

"What charges? The ones for trashing the airport, the ones for the crazy chase in Bucharest and the ones for the incident in Lagos. Mr Barnes and Mr Lang have been relieved of these, for various reasons, the most prominent being their aid in the discovery of you lot or their innocence. I think you can connect the dots. The fee, is the money that you all will pay Stark Industries to be housed and cared for in the Compound. To be honest, none of us wanted you here and the government was more than ready to find lower costing accommodations, though you were too adamant on residing here, so be it," Rhodes spoke, almost incredulously.

"It's community service, as none of you will be able to pay for damages and their repairs," Danvers informed them.

"That's bullshit! We were trying to the right thing. Stark didn't have to come and interfere. If he hadn't poked his nose, where it didn't belong, nothing would've happened! He didn't have to throw us into the RAFT! They put a collar on me. They detained us! He owes us!" Wanda exclaimed, her eyes glowing red.

"Tony doesn't owe you shit. He was acting on behalf of the law and the UN, you cannot rival that. He told you to stand down and hand yourselves in peacefully, you didn't do that. It wasn't his fault and I will not stand here whilst you blame him. Your parents died. I feel bad for you, honey, but Stark Industries never sold to Sokovia. It was either Obadiah Stane who did, or it was a fake! As for the whole ordeal with the RAFT prison, Tony didn't put you in there. In fact he wasn't aware of the fact that they put you in there. You can blame Ross for that," Pepper fumed.

The Rogues were silenced as they followed Pepper, Rhodes and Danvers through the grand doors to the east wing.

"This is the east wing. You are allowed in the common areas, gyms and any other common rooms. The West Wing quarters will be avoided. FRIDAY will not be answering to you anymore. Cleaning staff will be coming once a week, no more, no less. If you see them around and want any assistance, you can always ask nicely, but they are not obligated to help you when it isn't their time to do so."

There were protests arising, but Pepper held up a hand, silencing them.

"If you have any questions, you can ask Colonel Rhodes or Colonel Danvers. Do not treat anyone with disrespect, these are simple manners and if you fail to appease to them, you will be disciplined. Mr Barnes, you will be residing in a different location, as we think that it is better for your recovery. The BARF program will be in function, when you would like to start, please inform us," Pepper continued.

"I'm sorry, what's this about Bucky?" Steve piped up.

"Mr Barnes will not be residing with you, as per request," Danvers spoke.

Their protests were frowned out by Pepper taking her leave and leading Bucky out of the West Wing.

What the hell?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: How was it? Tell me in the comments! I love your guys' constructive criticism and positive feedback. Thank you for the love on this story! Love you all.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey guys! How are you all? I'm busy. Busy, busy, busy. There's a bunch of stuff going on right now and should be cleared up real soon, so I can get back to my normal uploading pattern. Not that I have one, but I'll set one. How about one every Saturday? Sound good? Love y'all.

Tony hated the Rogue Avengers.

And it was no secret to the world.

But even if he loathed them with a newfound passion, even if he didn't particularly care for them anymore, he thought that they would not be able to handle the charges that were placed upon them.

So he negotiated with the UN, something that Pepper, the team and Rhodey (the latter being the most insistent) didn't approve of.

Tony Stark hated very few people in the world, contrary to popular belief, he just strongly disliked people. When Tony did hate someone though, he wasn't brutal. He wasn't lenient either, oh god no, he just didn't completely ruin someone's life, because he got a second chance, so why shouldn't they?

And even if he thought that he could make an exception for the Rogues, he didn't, because it didn't settle well with his moral compass, something which he had, despite what others would say (other being Christine Everhart).

So he compromised, and did what he did best. He made a deal with Germany, Nigeria and Romania. If the Rogues were to break any major laws, they would be arrested in either of the those countries, and have the charges dropped on them if a situation like that was to occur. Tony figured that this was the best that he was going to get from them and decided that it was good enough. He wasn't going to spend any more brain cells on helping those fools.

And that's why he found himself sitting in a meeting room, waiting for the Rogue Avengers, who were already ten minutes late, mind you, to explain the situation to them. Rhodey had insisted on going with him, or better yet, going alone, but Tony had declined. He had to face them sooner rather than later and he needed the closure. Leaving him in a broken suit wasn't closure enough, since Tony was always a man of his words.

Rhodey's strong dislike to the Rogues had tripled since their arrival. Stupidly enough, the two of them had a rather loud session of cussing them out, whilst making raps on how they were idiotic morons who had no common sense whatsoever. To say that Tony hadn't enjoyed that would be a lie. Strangely so, it had hit him with a wave of nostalgia. It had reminded him why Rhodey was his best friend and it reminded him of the times before the Avengers. The times when he paid attention to himself and his real family (emphasis on real), not rushing from one meeting to another and then spending time in his lab, catering to the Avengers, team dinners, team building exercises, training and then whatever time he'd have left with Pepper.

He was just existing at that time. And Tony felt stupid now.

They called him a genius, yet it took him four years of pain and a few major betrayals along the way to figure out that things weren't working. He'd picked up the pieces after New York, he'd picked up the pieces after Sokovia, not that any of them were very grateful as they were the ones who caused the damage, and he'd picked up the pieces after the media-dubbed Civil War. Only this time, he had people to help him pick up the pieces. He had Pepper, who he had recently rekindled their romantic relationship with, he had Rhodey, who was so overprotective, Tony called him Mama Bear. He'd had Happy, who in his own way, made things so much better. He had Peter, who was a joy and a bundle of hyper energy which seemed to lift everyone's spirits, quite easily, might he add. Bruce had returned along with Thor, both of them apologising when they realized that they both had made mistakes, the former for running off and the latter for reacting violently towards an unarmed mortal man. The Science Bros were back in business. He had Hope, who in many ways, was similar to him, so he could relate to someone. He had Carol Danvers, who had helped Tony see through the first few days of grief, with her clear vision and stead-fast thinking, she kept him on his toes, helping him physically and emotionally. He had Stephen, the two them becoming quick friends even through their clashing personalities, and had an exclusive club – The Facial Hair Bros. Wong was, though a slight grouch, a trustworthy person, who's slightly sardonic or would her call it cynical humour was more amusing than one would think.

In short, Tony had help. He'd had so much more help than he had when the Old Avengers had formed.

So Tony didn't really give two shits about the people who hadn't been there for him when he had, though materialistically, been there for them.

When they walked into the meeting, twenty minutes late, Tony had been walking towards the door, mumbling about how this had been a total waste of time. Steve Rogers had barged through the doorway calling out behind Tony who had been heading through the other doorway.

The man had turned around, sighing, before strutting over to his seat, folder in hand. The Rogues filed in, a mixture of tension and anxiety clung to the air.

"I've been waiting here for the past twenty-two minutes, please do tell why I should not just walk out of this room right now," he spoke, his agitation evident through the wry look on his face.

"You can't wait for a half hour, can you Stark? Or are you top busy for this?" Clint taunted him.

"I actually am. Rhodey would've been here, but was called out to a mission so I'm stuck with you lot. I actually cannot afford to wait for half an hour, because unlike someone, I don't laze around all day. I have a company to run," he spoke evenly, not looking up from the file on the desk.

There was a scoff, before Clint retorted, "Doesn't Pepper run your company for you?"

"Just because I made her CEO of Stark Industries does not mean that I have given her full reign. I am still CTO of Stark Industries, and head of the Research and Development Department, so believe it or not, I do have quite a number of responsibilities hanging above my head," he bit out, before inhaling a sharp breath.

"Tony—"

"Mr Rogers, I think that both our mothers have taught us manners before their deaths, am I right?" Tony questioned, eyebrow raised, and when the look of pain adorned Steve's face, he couldn't help "It's either Mr Stark or Dr Stark. I'll leave that choice up to you."

He looked up this time, maintaining eye contact with the blond. Barnes was staring down at his shoes, looking slightly pained by the jab, Tony would talk to him later. The man in front of him was James Buchanan Barnes, not the Winter Soldier, so, Tony would give him the benefit of doubt. They had spoken before, in the BARF sessions, James had ranted to him. It was more of an extra therapeutic session, though Tony wasn't qualified, it seemed to help the man and so and so forth it continued.

They were, dare he say it, friends.

So, it hurt, to an extent of course, to see his friend getting upset, because of a comment he made nonetheless. But he'd have to deal with that later.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here. I'm going to be straightforward with you. This is how it is, this is in the file and this is what was discussed in the UN meeting. The Rogue Avengers—"

There protests flying around the room as Tony patiently held up his hand, silencing them.

"That's what you are called. You are no longer Avengers, hence the media had to come up with something new. The Rogues or would prefer the Ex-Vengers. I think not," he said, looking around the room, "now, as I was saying. My legal team and I have managed to strike a deal with the UN delegates of Nigeria, Romania and Germany regarding the criminal charges they were going to convict you of. They will be dropped. But, as a part of the agreement, if you are to break any other major law, which ends in property destruction, public or private and/or claims innocent lives, you are going to be deported from the United States of America and will be handed over to said countries, who will push charges onto you, mercilessly. I suggest you lay low for a while, all of you."

Silence encased the room.

"Why?"

Natasha had asked the question, the one which everyone was thinking of. Though being vague, Tony seemed to understand what her underlying question was, tilted his head thoughtfully, before making eye contact with each one of them.

"Because I don't want you all to whine and wail like children about how you, the almighty, righteous, heroes," he paused, motioning quotation marks around the word 'heroes', sneering at it, "and demanding that I fix something. Believe it or not, I'm not a god who rules the world. I'm simply a man, who had been given a company at a young age, forced to run it and turned it into something bigger, something better. I have resources at my disposal, from spending sleepless nights working on projects. Working on keeping corruption out of SI and making sure that my company is thriving along with handling Iron Man and your demands. Maximoff here, manipulated my mind, she created the idea of Ultron, you forgive her and yet you don't forgive me? Fuck that. I don't care about gaining your forgiveness anymore. Then you make it worse! You invite her to the Compound, though you didn't know about it at the time, she was still HYDRA. She wasn't someone like James," he sneered, making Steve flinch at the mention of his friend in such a hostile manner, "she volunteered to be experimented on. She brought fate upon herself. When her she grew out of her clothes, she'd message me, saying that she wanted new clothes by the next day. I have been used and abused by you all long enough and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you. I'm don't want you as a family and I think I realized that you never were family when you left me dying in that bunker. So please, forgive me, that I act so hostile towards you. I don't even want you in my Compound. One step out of line and you're done. You're out. You're all getting a second chance and don't ruin it for yourselves and in my opinion, that's one chance more than you deserve."

"Is that a threat?" Steve questioned as fury filled him.

"It's a warning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: How was it? Tell me in the reviews. Constructive criticism is always welcome.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Hey guys! I have been drowning in homework and a bunch of other stuff, and I know I said that I would upload soon, so here I am. I'm so sorry! I'll be trying to upload as frequently as possible.
> 
> Now, onto the chapter…
> 
> Love, Estetico

Sometimes Tony would step back, when he was in the Tower and listen to New York. He'd listen to the people bustling around as twilight approached. He'd listen to the plethora of cars honk at each other, their drivers seemingly agitated. He'd stand there in silence, with a cup of coffee in his hand, or both hands in his pockets.

Sometimes Bruce would join him.

And when he did, they'd stand there together, in silence, as they listened to the city that never slept.

Sometimes Pepper would join him, and they'd cuddle on the couch, as they watched the barely visible stars, together, relishing each other's warmth.

When Pepper wasn't there, Thor would stand beside him, sometimes in complete silence, and other times, recalling stories of Asgard.

Sometimes, when he would stand there, he'd think about how things had changed. Other times he'd think about the time that Rogers spoke about trust.

_Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things._

Yeah right.

He'd think about trust. He'd think about how much trust he'd put in the Avengers and how they'd returned the favour by screwing him over. And then he'd realised how many times he'd been screwed over in his 41 years of life.

Trust was a precious thing.

Tony's idea on trust had been perverted.

Tony's trust had been perverted, so, so, so, many times, that it'd never go back to being innocent.

Tony would remember the time that he had met Charles Xavier.

_You're trying to climb a tree made of water with an axe and rope, when you should simply learn how to swim._

He learnt to swim.

He'd swum all the way to the top branch of the tree.

And then they'd come back and he'd fallen all the way down.

.

.

.

"Tony—"

"It's Mr Stark or Dr Stark, Mr Rogers. These are basic manners. Please adhere to them. And no, I will not be catering for your equipment without a contract," Tony spoke, his irritation was poorly concealed.

"But we need good equipment on field!" Steve argued.  
"I am aware of that Mr Rogers, but I will not provide equipment without a pay check. I am a businessman, not a person who does charity for fugitives, pardoned or not. And what is the problem with your current equipment, Mr Rogers?"

"Clint's been complaining about the quality of his bow and the arrows, Wanda needs body armour that is less flimsy then what has been provided to her, Natasha doesn't have any Widow Bites or batons, Sam's wings aren't working quite right, I don't have my shield yet and Bucky doesn't have an arm!"

"You've worked for the SSR, haven't you?"

"Of course I have! You know this, we're not strangers."

"Well then you should know that the government isn't loaded with money, and they have to budget. They cannot and will not cater for your specific needs because they don't have the money to. SHIELD did not provide you all with state-of-the-art equipment, did they? Don't answer me, because I know that they didn't. You were fine back then, but you're not now? I'll tell you why Rogers?"

Steve raised an eyebrow, almost smugly, challenging him to answer. Wrong move buddy.

"Because you've been living off of my dime for the past two years and you now think that you are entitled my time and effort. You think I owe you for this whole Civil War shit. Let me get this straight with you Steven Rogers, I don't owe you shit. I don't owe you anything and just because you fought for the world, just because you protected the world with the help of others, you don't deserve more than those who can't walk. Or any of those orphans who lost their parents when you were trying to save the world. You don't deserve more than those families of the Dora Milaje who died in Lagos, or any of those families who are weeping for their children because they were killed on the way back from school. You don't have the right to feel this entitlement over me. I'm not your husband, family member or your child. I have no relations to you whatsoever. You don't even deserve to be at the Compound right now. You and your merry band should be rotting on the streets or in jail."

"You don't mean that, Tony."

And there it was again, forcing his will upon everyone else.

"You really cannot be one to say anything. If anything, I think you know me less than every damn person that is here in the Compound despite working with me for so many years. You can't say that I don't mean something when you don't know me well enough."

He abruptly straightened, and rubbed his palms over his eyes, as he sighed tiredly.

"Look, we can argue all day and we won't get anywhere. You're a brick wall, and so am I. I'm not about to start talking to someone who just won't see common sense. I don't have time for this. My answer remains no," he all but growled as he briskly walked to the glass doors, leaving behind the blond man, before he turned around one last time to look at Steve Rogers, "and don't wait around for it to change, you'll be waiting for a long time."

With that he promptly spun on his heel and stalked through the spinny door, leaving behind a very frustrated Captain America.

.

.

.

Sometimes the others would come up to him when he was working, demanding things, as if he owed them. He'd managed to be professional with them, up until Wanda and Clint had run up to him on one rather dull Thursday.

"Stark! I need new clothes! Mine are too small!" Wanda had whined, rather childishly, to which Tony had rolled his eyes, ignoring her completely. At that, she seemed annoyed and red mist started gathering around her hands, forming orbs of raw energy saturating in her curled palms.

"Why are you telling me? It's not my responsibility, take it up with your liaison," he'd replied curtly.

"You don't speak to her that way," Barton had barked, latching onto Tony's collar, as he lifted the shorter man up, in a way to seem intimidating. Flexing Barton's right wrist backward, he was dropped to the floor as the archer yelled out in pain, before he was kicked in the stomach, leaving him double over as Tony straightened up, dusting off imaginary lint form his three-piece Armani suit.

Red mist made its way towards Tony, trying to restrain him as Wanda glared at him with a wild look in her eyes. The extremis was immediately activated and Tony threw an orb of energy towards the Scarlet Witch, throwing her off her feet.

"I don't care that her clothes are too small. Its not my fucking problem, so go to someone who has the time and patience to deal with your shit, don't come to me for anything anymore," he growled before ambling out of the room, to deal with the sore throat. That was going to be a bitchfor the next few days.

.

.

.

He'd learnt to swim all over again.

He'd perched on the very top of the tree.

He'd smiled when he realized that he'd finally learnt how to swim.

Then he'd realized that he smiled a lot less nowadays.

_New note: smile more._

And he swore that he saw FRIDAY smile at him through his head.

Perhaps extremis hadn't turned him into the monster that Killian had been.

And for the first time since he was seven-years-old, he smiled at the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: How was it? Tell me in the reviews. Constructive criticism is always welcome! Oh and how was the whole Extremis!Tony thing? I wanted to try something different and develop it differently, that's all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm back. Writers block has not treated me well, so I've finally written this and I think it'll put some stuff into context, because in the first 6 chapters I never hinted Extremis, so I kinda pulled that onto y'all. I thought it would be a fun surprise. Anywhooos. I watched Captain Marvel and I fell in love with it. Which is a better origin story? Captain America: The First Avenger or Captain Marvel? I prefer Captain Marvel as an origin story, but nobody can replace our good old Cap. Yes, I may not be on his "side" in Civil War, but that doesn't mean that I don't love him. Let's leave it at that. Anyways, so I saw the trailer of Endgame and I cried. It loved it and I just! UGHHHH!
> 
> By the way remember chapter 3? My author's note? Y'all probably don't read it, but if you do, you'll know. You know I said:
> 
> "Hey guys! Nick Furyyyyy! Finally. I love his character and I hate how he had to pretend to die or how SHIELD was dumped on the Internet. I will forever loathe Nat for that, but I wont make things too hard for her. And since I hate the SHIELD Internet dump, it never happened. At least not in this story. It would be better for SHIELD, as the people who used to work there wouldn't be killed because their address was on the Internet to see. More humanity, you know? Anyways on to the chapter!"
> 
> Yeah. I've done my research and I've realized that this is stupid. Life doesn't always end happily and people die. It's the truth and it's horrible, but people die. So, I'm going to make sure that THE SHIELD DUMP DID HAPPEN, BUT TONY, BLESS HIS SOUL, WILL DO THE CLEAN UP AND HE WILL SAVE EVERYONE BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HEROES WHO ARE AS AMAZING AS TONY (READ: THOR AND BRUCE) DO.
> 
> So, on with chapter. It's slightly longer for y'all. Enjoy, lovlies.

Extremis had been hard to control at first. It had flared up at any given moment, whether Tony had been in the shower, or in bed or in the suit. It hadn't mattered. Whenever he was agitated, his skin would start glowing a bright orange, and god knows how embarrassing that would be in public.

But he got used to it.

He'd gotten to know that it wasn't his enemy and at times, he would be grateful for it being there.

Being connected to FRIDAY was amazing, and he could only wonder what it would be like if it was JARVIS instead. Guess he'd never know, huh?

He'd gotten by for the past year, without JARVIS, but he figured he couldn't anymore. Not after the events of the Civil War. He needed something familiar. He needed home, and the Compound wasn't his home anymore. In fact, come to think of it, it was never his home, it was just his building. It had meant to be for the Avengers as a whole, but Thor and Bruce left after Ultron, and he'd lost his only friend on the team. He'd lost the only one who'd had confidence in him. He'd lost Bruce. There hadn't been any point to stay and listen to everyone bitch about Ultron, or deal with the silent judgement. He'd rebuilt his house in Malibu and he'd visit, every now and then, reminiscing the old days, where everything was amazing.

So he'd done what Tony Stark did best.

He searched, he dug and he discovered.

He found JARVIS's files, layout and coding all saved at one of the many Stark Industries Intelligence warehouses in Idaho.

So he'd booked a flight as soon as he could and went to find his creation.

.

.

.

JARVIS hadn't been installed into the Compound because Tony knew the inevitable would happen. He knew that no matter what happened, the Rogues would come back. Not forgiven – but they would return.

Tony hadn't wanted JARVIS near them.

Who knew, maybe Captain America's charm worked on AI's too.

And call him insecure, but he really did believe that. He'd lost so much, and he couldn't bear to lose anymore. Definitely not because of those miscreants, anyway.

They came back a year later.

Tony needed comfort. He needed home.

So, after much contemplation and hesitation, he installed JARVIS after their first month of stay.

To say that the AI had been unimpressed by the Rogues' actions would be the understatement of the century.

.

.

.

"Uhh, hey, Tony."

"What, Peter? You better not have gotten hurt again, May –"

Tony froze. May wasn't there to yell at him anymore.

"I mean, may is coming soon and your pre-test season is coming along with it. You cannot have a stab wound."

The silence over the line was tense.

"It's alright Tony. I'm not gonna lie to you and say that I'm alright, but I'm getting there. You don't have to stop bringing her up just because she isn't here anymore. It's alright. You two were friends, I get it."

"Thanks, kid," there was a short pause as Tony decided what to say next, "so, why did you call? I'm assuming that you wanted to hear my wonderful voice."

"It's not quite that, Tony…" he trailed of.

"Peter Benjamin Parker. What has happened? Karen would've told me if something went wrong or if your vitals are abnormal. It's part of the Baby Monitor Protocol," Tony spoke.

"Well, I've got a bullet in me, so it's not a stab wound, that's good right? Besides, I-I, uh, turned off the Baby Monitor Protocol, a while ago, actually."

"You, what?! Where are you? I'm on my way," he rushed out as the suit melted onto him.

"It's fine! I've got it under control! I can just take the bullet out."

"Do not take that bullet out under any circumstances, it may have a toxin in it!"

"They were grocery store robbers! Why would they be carrying toxic bullets?"

"Look, this is rare, so cherish it, but I don't know. People know that Spider-Man had been chilling with me and they will go to any extent in hurting me, even if that's through you. So stay where you are, Karen's sent me your location and I'll be there in three minutes."

"Traitor," he could hear Peter mutter to the AI.

Oh brother, this boy was going to give him a heart attack.

.

.

.

Peter had started dropping by more and more often after his Aunt's death. It had become a routine for Tony and he missed the little critter when he wasn't around. Pepper had been coming around too, more often than not, she'd stay the night, which hadn't been possible a while back.

Tony's relationship with Pepper was healthier now.

Tony was healthy.

Maybe the Avengers were toxic.

When the Mandarin thing happened, he'd have thought that at least one of them would've reached out to him or Pepper.

No such thing happened.

But then again, he'd realized that he'd never really expected even that much from them.

Except for Bruce.

Who had apologized a thousand times after he came back from his vacation.

In a way it had been Tony's fault that Bruce had been sent to a place without cell service for a month, but then again, his Brucie-Bear had needed a vacation. In exchange for his absence, which totally wasn't anyone's fault but Tony's, Bruce gave him a thorough check-up (even though it had already been a week after the incident and he was fine, but Bruce had been insistent). Good times.

He was blinded.

He was deluded.

And his only friends were Happy, Rhodey and Bruce. That little Spider, Natasha or Natalie or Natalia, had only wanted him for his money, despite knowing of his extensive anxiety and PTSD.

He couldn't say that he hadn't expected her to betray him, but the comment after had hurt him. Sure, he had an ego, but this wasn't about him or said ego.

She had hurt him.

Tony had considered Clint a friend. He'd thought that they'd managed to form a stable bond over pranks and jokes and humour of all sort.

He'd called in a kid before he'd called in the archer, because he'd retired.

He'd fucking retired and had no part in the Civil War but still jumped into it, the collateral damage being Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel losing a dad along with Laura losing both her husband and her source of income. You could call her selfish, but nobody should wish a fate upon anyone of having three children, being a single mother and having no income to pay for said kids' needs as well their own. She'd been a mess when he'd found her at the Farm

News travels fast.

Hope Van Dyne had been of much help to the mother of the Barton family (now going by Preston which was Cooper's idea. He was rebellious teen, whose father had left his family, so of course, he'd bitter about the whole situation). Hope and Laura had confided in each other and had immediately become close friends. It was good to see Laura not looking so forlorn all the time.

The last straw had been when Clint had commented about his Honey-Bear at the RAFT. He'd cut all ties.

He'd thought that out of respect for Rhodey, Sam would've sided with him. He was, after all, military, and going against the Government was against everything he'd worked for. The two had never been chummy ( **A/N: I'm cringing at that word and I'm sorry that you've had read that** ), but he'd thought that Rhodey had mattered to the man. That if he sided with Steve, his best friend, Riley, would've been ashamed of him. Maybe that thought never occurred to him because he'd had his head shoved up so far Captain America's rear end that he couldn't see logic and sense.

Wanda had never been much of a surprise. She'd hated him for creating Ultron, even though she was part of his making. She was the person who gave him the idea of Ultron. She'd driven him to it and then complained about it. She'd hated him because he'd apparently killed her parents when he'd simply been designing and manufacturing them for the safety of his country. Her parents were killed because the bombs used were fakes. They were probably fired by Hydra, who she had gone and volunteered for, to becoming a science experiment. Obadiah's under the table dealings had only reached as far as the Middle East.

They'd all turned their backs on him the moment things got difficult.

They'd hurt him and used him for his money and his contacts and company.

No one had come to think of the fact that DC could've been avoided if someone had fucking called him. If he knew that the helicarriers were going down, he would've been able to get them up again. If Steve had told him about SHIELDRA, he would've helped. Innocent SHIELD agents would have died if didn't help when did. He'd rounded them up, given them jobs at SI and a roof over their heads for themselves and their families. He'd saved every last one of them and they all were convinced that they owed him something. They didn't, he'd done it because he wanted to and he because he could. He didn't do it for a favor here and there, he has so many of those laying around anyway. So imagine how angry these agents would be when he came back from fight, where he was right and was trying to do good, all beaten up, bruised and alone. They asked and yelled and screamed for vengeance.

He'd told them that revenge wasn't best served cold, but it was achieved by living a good life.

They'd been placated. For now.

The Old Avengers repeated, over and over, at how it was all blood money, without knowing that Stark Industries had tripled since he took over and was well on its way of becoming an empire, whereas Howard's Stark Industries had always been a company, Tony's Stark Industries had become more than just a mere company.

They were more than willing to take said "blood money" and spend it for themselves, but would condemn him for not giving them more, or for spending some for himself. It wasn't their problem.

Happy had been right. He was off with superhero friends and didn't have time for his old friends, the ones who'd stuck.

Bruce had been right. They weren't a team. They were a chemical compound waiting to explode.

That explosion had been the Civil War.

Tony had come out of it with a broken arc reactor, a broken heart but a new purpose for living.

He'd take the crumbling thing that was the Avengers and he'd make his Aunt Peggy proud.

He'd make Rhodey and Happy and Pepper and Peter proud.

He'd make May proud.

He'd make Howard proud, no matter how much of a shit father he was, he'd make Howard Stark fucking proud of him.

And he'd make his  _madre_ proud.

.

.

.

Buck—James (that's what he'd wanted to be called) sat on one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter, waiting for his coffee, and Doctor Banner's tea to heat up.

He'd been avoiding Steve and the rest of the Rogues' as if they were a plague.

He didn't like what Steve had become. The little guy in Brooklyn, who didn't know when to let up had turned into Steve Rogers, Captain America, the man who led a nation-wide man hunt and had no acknowledgement of what others wanted. It was his way or the high way.

He thought of Tony Stark and their times in the workshop. Where they worked on his arm, or the BARF sessions.

He'd gotten more help than he'd deserved.

He remembered a particular day, the one where he'd started to feel again. He'd started to want again. The day where he learnt that he could disagree to something that someone said, without being punished for it.

He'd only have Tony to thank for his freedom from himself.

_*Flashback*_

_He'd taken the elevator down to the workshop for his arm to be looked at._

_Tony stood, his back facing the door, as he scrawled something on the smartboard and continued looking at a hologram of what seemed to be his arm. Wakanda had done him good, but he'd only gotten his arm tweaked and fixed up, the Princess was after all a princess and had other duties to tend to. James hadn't minded. He could to with a jaunty arm. He'd managed just fine in Romania and DC._

_Clearing his throat, he spoke softly, "Hey Tony."_

_"Oh! Hey there Snowflake! Sit yourself on the seat and we'll get started," the mechanic had replied, not missing a beat even though he was initially startled._

_James had obeyed and Stark had gotten to work, occasionally stopping to ask if it hurt or not._

_"Why?" James had asked._

_And even though he hadn't continued, Tony understood._

_"Because, Bucky, you have the right to tell me to stop if I'm hurting you. You're allowed to want me to stop. You won't tell me if and when it hurts, so until you do, I'm gonna keep asking."_

_"I want to be called James."_

_"Seriously out of all of that you only got that? Like was noth—"_

_"I want," James had replied, looking incredibly shocked._

_"James?" Tony had asked, uncertainly._

_"I want."_

_"You want, huh?"_

_"I can want."_

_"You can, bud, you can."_

_*End of flashback*_

A voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"James?"

"Doctor Banner! Tea?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Bruce? Oh, and yes please."

"Sorry, Doc—Bruce," he corrected himself, smiling sheepishly, "How 'bout some yoga?"

Bruce hummed in agreement.

Maybe this was home.

He'd searched for it for 70 years, and he'd finally found it.

Home. He'd found his home.

It was worth the wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: How was it? Leave a comment!
> 
> Madre – his mother


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I'm back! I'm going to try my best to continue this story as long as possible and I'm also going to give you a heads up about the following chapters. I don't know if this is considered a spoiler, but I've recently been reading a lot of fics which include LGBTQ+ in them and I think that it's a thing that we should all be accepting, because they're people too, they just like different genders and that really shouldn't be a problem for anybody, because they are who they are and they shouldn't be given the short end of the stick because of what they feel. So, in the following chapters, I'm going to make it past Stony (Steve/Tony) and current BuckyTony (Bucky/Tony), which means that Pep and Tony will break up, but they're best friends before lovers, so I think that they should continue being best friends. So, without any further ado, enjoy, my loves!

The Rogue Avengers (sans Bucky) were stationed at the Compound Gym, training for when their first mission was assigned to them. They hadn't agreed with the fact that there was a hierarchy in command. They had hated that Steve wasn't their leader anymore. They hated that even though Captain Marvel and Colonel Rhodes (the Colonel, not so much) had been impartial to them, they had a soft spot for Tony and the New Avengers. They despised the fact that they had been replaced. They hated that they had been relegated to extra help. They thought that they were entitled to a return, to a welcome and to a happy life. They had come out extremely disappointed.

The door of the Gym slid open to reveal one Tony Stark and one Stephen Strange and if that didn't annoy the Rogues, then nothing did. Two sassy, snarky and sarcastic humans who could piss them off, which was just too much for Wanda and her anger issues. The two seemed to be in deep conversation, not noticing, or completely neglecting the Rogues. The pair made their way into the Gym and towards their equipment, Stephen to the hunting daggers and Tony made his way to the guns, pistols and rifles area. Natasha quirked her eyebrow in interest, wondering what made Tony choose guns. She and Clint had always been neck to neck when it came to shoot something, her with guns and Clint with his bow, but Tony was tagged as an untrained individual and she had never expected him to know how to shoot from a gun. So she watched as the small man held up a gun, and shot, hitting the bulls-eye multiple times, making heads turn. Steve hadn't known that Tony could use a gun and the very fact made Steve tremble in fear. If Tony had wanted him and Bucky dead in that Siberian bunker, and as much as it hurt his own ego to admit, that they both would have been a smear against the walls of the Hydra base. There was too much firepower in the Iron Man suit, enough to take down a small army of super soldiers and if that didn't scare Steve, the fact that Tony could also shoot a gun, wield a knife and be trained in close combat, did. His ego was bruised as he watched the older man ducked and punched and hit till he made Strange yield. It had looked like a dance, when Tony would jump and flip and punch. When the two men decided to return to the communal floor to do some platonic cuddling whilst watching a movie, they were both stopped by Clint.

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that, Stark?" he'd asked unkindly.

"Not that's any of your business, but let me reming you that I used to be called the Merchant of Death. I'm not an untrained individual, which I think you never knew about me. In fact, I've known how to use a gun since I was six years old."

And call him petty, but Tony Stark was the epitome of petty.

Wanda looked wary of him, as did Steve, whilst Sam and Natasha looked impressed, Clint sneered at Tony, claiming that he was bragging and he was boasting and that he was full of himself.

Tony stood there, not reacting to Clint's harsh words, unflinching.

"Are you done?" he asked blandly, interrupting Clint's rage, "Because I have better things to do than listen to you curse my existence."

Clint glared at the genius, but didn't continue his rant. From behind Tony, Stephen smirked.

Natasha sneered, "Why don't you just over yourself, Stark?"

"Oh! She isn't Natashalie if she doesn't get a word in, is she? And the comments about my ego? They're not doing much, honey, because I don't give two shits about what you think of me. I think you need to get over yourself and get your head out of his ass," Tony started, gesturing at Steve, "Because, if you don't, it's gonna come and bite you."

"You threatening us, Stark?" asked Clint.

"Warning you. Because I'm not the one who wants your head on the platter, though, I wish I could say the same about the rest of the world. What is it with you, huh? Is it always my fault? That your lives suck? Is it my fault that everything goes wrong?"

"Right now? Yes, it is," Wanda exclaimed, "It's your fault that the Avengers are torn apart! It's your fault that we're in this position! It's your fault that we are going through this! If you hadn't sided with Ross, none of this would have happened! It's your fault that my parents are dead. It's your fault that Pietro is dead. That's on you, Tony Stark!" she spat his name as if it was an insult to mankind, her voice softening towards the end, though, still holding the same venom.

"Are you done? I applaud you for your acting skills. You should be in Broadway right now, but it doesn't work on me. I'd like to start off with the simple fact that I didn't kill your parents. I don't know how many times I've got to repeat this one sentence, but apparently, your brain doesn't have the capacity to hold it in for longer than two seconds. At first, I hadn't know how one of the SI bombs landed in Sokovia considering that I only sold to the military of the United States and Stane's under the table dealings didn't make it past the Middle East, so I did some digging. Turns out Hydra replicated SI products and used them to terrorize Sokovia. So, technically, you and your brother signed up to the organization that killed your own parents. Comical, I say. Secondly, I didn't kill your brother. He was on a battle field, fighting against an enemy, who by the way was technically your creation, which I simply executed because I was under your voodoo magic. He died saving someone who wasn't me, and even if he had been saving me, it wouldn't have been on me, because it would have been his decision, not mine. It's not my fault that you're in this position and it definitely isn't my fault that the Avengers are torn apart. Accountability might be a foreign concept to you, but I've been familiar with it for many, many years. Do any of you remember what I said in that speech after I came back from Afghanistan? I said that I saw hundreds of our soldiers die because of my missiles. I spoke about accountability. Because you can't just walk into someone's house uninvited, trample it and leave. Lagos was a mistake, I understand, but the government had it under control and didn't need you barging in. If you had communicated with them, it wouldn't have happened. Those who lost their lives would have been alive and their families wouldn't have had to go through the pain of losing someone. That's what the Accords stand for. I had a plan. I had plan all along, and it worked, though I wish it could've worked out without the fallout between us and a shield to my chest. Ross is arrested, Zemo is arrested, and the world moved on. The Accords have thousands of superpowered signee's. The Accords are like a constitution. Law changes, it never stays the same and amendments are made. You made a mistake in Bucharest, and I gave you an option to fix it. You should've taken the deal and you would have been done with it. Did you tell them, Rogers? Did you tell them what you did? What you hid from me? Tell them, because if you don't, Zemo will and there is no way that I can stop those videos from getting out before someone sees them," he raged, his voice softening at the end.

"You locked us up in the Raft! They caged me like an animal! You locked me in Compound! You took my freedom!" Wanda wasn't done just yet.

"I did it to protect you from everyone who wanted you dead!" he roared, and silence filled the Compound.

"D-Dead?" she stuttered, in denial.

"Well when you fly over to another fucking country, storm in and fucking kill thirteen people, stuff like that happens. They wanted you dead and I was the only thing stopping them. People will go to any extent to avenge their loved ones. One of them could have come after you and you were living at the Compound, so you were my responsibility when Rogers wasn't there and he was busy running off to Romania, so I did as much as I possibly could to protect you. There were talks about revoking your visa and sending you back to Sokovia. I did it to protect you, you ungrateful brat," he continued, "You're all ungrateful. You think that you're entitled to my money, money which you criticized and called blood money and yet you took it any way. You had no problem living in the Compound without paying rent. And you, Rogers! Don't even let me get started on you."

"Tony- I—" Steve stammered.

"You took my money on private and personal missions, not bothering to inform me where you were going or what you were doing or when you were going to use the quinjet, when you were using my money. You don't deserve what you got from me and I was too blind to see that I didn't deserve your mistreatment and your unkind words. I don't need you anymore and I don't know why you've got it stuck in your head that I give a fuck about you and that I need you in order to survive. I'm spelling it out for you, I don't need you, and I don't want anything to do with you. Because your toxic and venomous. Bruce was right. We aren't the Avengers, we never were the Avenger, we were chemical mixture, waiting to explode," he spoke with a sad smile on his face, "I've opened my eyes, maybe it's time to open yours and look at reality because I'm sure as hell that I'm not going to be your sugar daddy anymore."

With that, he nudged through a rather bashful Sam, annoyed Clint, angry Wanda, still sneering Natashalie and a flustered Steve Rogers, who was wondering how he was going to explain Siberia to his 'team'.

Stephen Strange smirked, trailing behind the young genius, oh this was going to be fun indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: READ THE FIRST AUTHOR'S NOTES PLEASE! ITS IMPORTANT! How was it? Tell me in the comments!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author' notes: Hey guys! It only took me two weeks to post this time. Be proud of me. I'm kidding. I was supposed to upload last week, but I was grounded and well, so I couldn't post. So this is the moment you've been waiting for (if you've been reading my notes), the Pepperony break up is in this chapter! There's also another surprise because some of you guys have been saying that this has been just a total Team Cap bashing and that it's kinda strayed from a story-line to just a random series of events which are mostly Team Cap bashing. It's getting repetitive. SO, SPOILER ALERT we are going to have reconciliation in this chapter. And as I am writing this I don't think that I have discussed Endgame yet, so ENDGAME SPOILERS IN THIS AUTHORS NOTE! I loved Endgame, though it was kinda rushed and I am very very very sad. Tony Stark was a father to everyone who needed one, but now, he doesn't get to be one to his very own child. WhAT SHiT iS tHiS MaRvel???? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter love you guys ♡

From a young age, Pepper Potts was often praised for her patience. It had stayed with her as she grew up and that was the only reason that she was able to put up with Anthony Edward Stark for so many years. Of course patience got her through his infuriating ways and his annoying habits, like overworking himself, spending too long in his workshop or not turning up to meetings. Sometimes it annoyed her that she had to be the babysitter of a forty-year-old, but then she’d walk into his workshop with him nodding off against the workbench, mouth open as a drool leaked out or she’d listen to some ridiculous excuse of his and she’d realized that he was an idiot, but an idiot that she loved. So when had her love for him dulled?

She wouldn’t have a clue.

She’d realized before he did.

They didn’t love each other as they used to.

They were best friends, they were family.

Her, Rhodey, Tony, Happy and Peter.

They were the only ones who stuck around when things got difficult.

So when they were cuddling on the couch one night, she looked up at him.

“Tony, do you think you’ll ever marry me?”

He’d been rather baffled by her question, but recovered quickly.

“Are you proposing, Miss Potts?” he’d asked, a sly smirk on his face.

“No you idiot,” she’d hissed before pausing and taking a deep breath, “Tony, I don’t think we love each other.”

There was a sharp intake of breath, and she could practically feel the tears welling in his eyes.

“Pepper, where is this coming from?”

“I love you Tony. I really do, but, not like that, and you don’t either.”

“I think I’d know if I didn’t love you, Pepper.”

“Tony you don’t love me,” she’d said firmly, and at his frustrated expression, she’d continued, “at least, not in a romantic way. You love me like a sister. You love me like a best friend and I think that I love you in that way too.”

“Oh.”

“I think that it’s time that we move on from each other. It isn’t healthy to be in a relationship when we’re lying to ourselves. Just remember that I love you, I’ll always love you, just not in the way that we both hoped.”

She gave him a sad smile as she pulled herself up and patted his shoulder, turning around and heading to a guest room. She shut the door and let herself slide down to her knees. Tears spilled down her cheeks, as she slumped against the door. She could hear the pattering of rain outside.

And that was the day that Pepper Potts allowed herself to be weak.

She knew that it would hurt, but it had been the right thing to do and she wasn’t going to go back onto it because she’d meant what she’d said. She loved Tony Stark and Tony Stark loved her but not in the way they both thought that they did.

And maybe, for now, that was enough.

~

After Pepper had essentially left him, he’d headed down to the lab, his hands needing to tinker. Maybe, given some time, he’d understand. The last person he’d wanted to run into was Steve, but alas, the world was against him and he couldn’t get his coffee in peace. Nevertheless, he persisted.

“Hey,” Steve whispered, almost inaudibly.

He ignored the greeting in favour of glowering at the coffee machine.

Rogers seemed discouraged, but he continued.

“I didn’t think I’d find you here. What’s wrong?”

No reply. Steve sighed.

“I’m here to get my coffee and go tinker in my lab, I’m not here to argue with your morals, again,” he’d spoken stiffly, not looking the blond man in his eyes.

“I’m not here to fight. I’m here to apologise, Tony.”

“We’ve had this conversation, Rogers. I don’t want anything to do with you, we aren’t friends. Not anymore, at least,” he’d said, sounding defeated.

“I’m sorry. I’ve realized that I’ve been excusing my behaviour and I understand now that that isn’t the right way to go about something. You might not be able to forgive me yet, but I’m hoping that you will in the future, because I know I messed up. I’m sorry Tony, I’m sorry for everything.”

Tony perched himself on the end of the kitchen bench, coffee in hand.

“Are you sorry for what happened or are you sorry what you did that made it happen?” he’d asked.

“I’m sorry for what I did,” Steve said, looking so  _sorry_  and so sad and so honest.

“I can’t forgive you,” he spoke, and he watched the man’s face crumple, “Yet.”

Steve broke out into a wide grin and he whispered a small thank you.

“I— I’ll, uh, let you be. Good night, Tony.”

He’d nodded to Rog— Steve, before giving him a small smile and watching as the man left.

They weren’t friends, they weren’t going to be for a long time, but at least they could be civil.

And for now, that was enough.

~

James had been crushing on Tony Stark for a while now.

That wasn’t the bad part, no, what was worse was that everyone seemed to notice.

He’d already received the shovel talk from Rhodes, Peter, Pepper and Vision.

Steve had been oddly supportive after the ‘Pepperony’ break up had been publicly announced. Oh god, Peter and Shuri were getting to him with memes and the ship names.

It had happened when they were down in the lab, working on his arm.

Tony had finished tweaking it and they had both swooped down to grab the screw driver, when their heads collided.

Being in such close proximity with the man that he lov—liked had been dizzying. He hadn’t been able to resist and he’d suddenly locked lips with the genius. James had expected the man to pull away, but when he’d kissed back, James had been rather surprised. They’d pulled away later, when they both needed oxygen and that was when Tony panicked.

“I just broke up with Pepper like a month ago and I-I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” he’d fretted.

“Hey, hey, Tony, look at me,” James had said, putting a slight damper over his mood, “You didn't start it, I did and I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to, okay? If you want to take it slow, I’m ready to take it slow. If you want me to forget this ever happened, I’ll do that too, okay?”

The smaller man had nodded, “I—I want to take it slow. Is that alright?”

“Of course it’s alright, doll.”

“D-Doll?” a blush blossomed on his cheeks.

James rubbed the back of his neck, flushing, “Old habit of mine. It’s what I used to call people back in the day.”

“Oh,” he’d said, before he flushed even deeper, “Um, I-I know it might be weird, but, uh, could we, I mean, could you, hold m-me?”

“Oh, of course, c’mere,” he’d said, holding out his arms, beckoning the shorter man towards him.

They’d ended up spooning the whole night.

Maybe Tony couldn’t say that he loved him for a while, but he could accept James for who he was, flaws and all.

And for James, that was enough.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Tell me how it was in the comments!

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: How was it? Tell me by leaving a comment! :)


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